Saved by the Voicemail
by LBIGreyhound13
Summary: Part of the IronDad 1000 Feelings Challenge on Tumblr. Prompt 15: The relief when no one picks up the phone. Tony tries his hardest to give young Peter the confidence he needs to call his friend, MJ.


**Author's Note: **Hello, readers! My name is LBIGreyhound13! I've been on this site for a while, and recently, my boyfriend got me into the MCU through Infinity War. I kind of knew about THAT scene before going in, but seeing how our favorite Iron Dad and Spider Son interacted and how that scene played out with Tom and RDJ's acting, I was blown away and came to love their father/son relationship as well got hooked onto the MCU! So, of course, after seeing Endgame, I wanted to write something for our father/son duo! Thus, I came across the Iron Dad 1000 Feelings challenge and decided to give it a try. I hope you like it! Keep in mind; this is my first fanfic in this particular fandom and franchise, so I'm hoping I get this right! If not, feel free to leave me tips! I hope you like it otherwise!

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**anything**_** related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.**

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_Prompt #15: The relief when no one picks up the phone_

Saved By the Voicemail

"Kid, you're making me anxious just by looking at you," Tony suddenly said jolting Peter out of his thoughts.

Peter looked up from his phone and looked right at his mentor. "Huh?" he said turning away from his phone.

"You're making the boss anxious, kid," Happy claimed from his driver seat, "and quite frankly, me too."

Peter sighed as he threw his head back against the headrest in Tony's limo. Happy was driving him and Tony back to his apartment in Queens after they had a picture taken at Stark Industries. While the stunt was to prove that Peter did in fact complete an internship with Iron Man himself and not helping Iron Man fight Captain America a few months ago, both superheroes decided to use it as a chance to spend a few hours together.

Ever since Tony Stark asked the teenaged hero to become a part of his team against Captain America (as weird as that sounded), Peter had come to really look up to the veteran superhero as a mentor, and Tony appeared to enjoy taking him under his wing, despite him not wanting to join the Avengers right away to continue being a "friendly-neighborhood Spider-Man." So, Tony invited Peter to his office to take the picture and to go out for some coffee, and it was there that Peter explained to Tony that he was supposed to call a girl at his school, MJ.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," he said rubbing his hand on his face. "It's just…"

"Pete, we talked about this," Tony replied. Peter couldn't help but smile at Tony's nickname for him. "You're just calling a girl from school and talking to her for a few minutes."

"I know, I know, and you're right—"

"As I usually am."

"But…what if I get on the phone and make a complete fool of myself?"

Tony pursed his lips in thought for a moment before taking off his sunglasses to look directly at Peter. "So…you're telling me that you…Spider-Man…a hero who stops robbers and guys dressed as robot birds are afraid of calling a girl in your class?"

Peter was about to respond but stopped himself when he thought about his mentor's comment. Tony was, once again, kind of right. As Spider-Man, in just under a year, he had gone toe-to-toe with Captain America, Falcon, Ant-Man, and the Winter Soldier. Aside from that, he had also stopped robbers and other baddies almost every night, _and_ on top of that, he also went up against a man who dressed up as a robotic vulture. Not to mention, he also escaped a collapsed building after Toomes attempted to crush him with it, but he hadn't mentioned that to Tony yet.

"Okay, when you put it like that…" Peter finally said, "this seems easier…"

"Seems?" Tony and Happy asked in unison.

The teenager rolled his eyes at his mentor and his mentor's chauffeur. "Okay, fine, maybe this is easy compared to most things," he finally said.

"Listen, take it from old Iron Man here," Tony began after a moment, "when it comes to girls, Pete, sometimes you just have to take that freaking bull by the horns and make that move. Look that nervousness in the eye. Be that kid, who couldn't wait to go on that next mission and call this…uh…what's her name again?"

"MJ."

"Right, call MJ."

Peter looked at his phone again. MJ's number was on his screen, and all he had to do was press the green button to call her. The teenaged superhero took a deep breath and moved his thumb just above the button. He was going to do it! He was going to call this girl just as they agreed to do! However…his thumb froze in place as his heart began to pound in his chest.

"Is your thumb broken or something?" Tony finally asked after a moment.

Peter groaned and threw his head back yet again for the millionth time. "It's not as easy as it looks," Peter retorted.

Tony couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at his protégé. "You think I don't know how hard it is to be your age and call a girl to maybe ask her out?"

Now, it was Peter's turn to look at his mentor with a raised eyebrow. "Really?" he asked.

"What?"

"You, Tony Stark, a billionaire and Iron Man, were always nervous about asking girls out when you were my age?" He found that very…very hard to believe. He was too young to remember much of what his mentor was like before becoming Iron Man, but various news reporters tend to shed a little light on what his past was like before becoming a superhero. It was hard to imagine a 15-year-old Tony Stark being in high school and being nervous about talking to a girl in school. He always figured that Tony would've been one of the popular kids back then.

"Pete, come on, I was a teenager once. I get how nerve-wracking it can be, but once I got over it, it…" He paused for a moment wondering if he could really explain his playboy past to a teenager. "That's a story for another time…maybe when you're in your eighties and have a grandchild on the way."

"Mhm," Peter said nodding.

"Hey, hey, you're stalling this," the veteran superhero finally said.

"So what if I am?"

"Kid…" Tony retorted with a warning tone.

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," he replied.

"It's okay," Tony replied patting Peter's shoulder, "but can I just ask you something?"

Peter nodded waiting for his mentor to respond.

"What's the worst that could happen if you call her?"

"Well, for one thing, if I say something stupid, I won't be able to tell what her reaction is. I can't see her face, and…I might just sound like a bumbling idiot and make a complete fool of myself, and she will probably hang up and won't talk to me again."

"I asked for _one_, but anyway, like I said earlier, you got nothing to be nervous about. You're a bright kid. You care about other people. You look out for the little guy. Any girl would be very lucky to have you."

Peter smiled and blushed at his hero's compliments. "That…really means a lot, Mr. Stark," he replied quietly. "That…that means a lot hearing it from you."

"Good, now, take the newfound confidence I just gave you and call this girl!" Tony exclaimed.

Peter chuckled for a brief moment before he turned to look at his mentor. "You know what, Mr. Stark?" he finally said. "You're right!"

"Indeed, I am. I'm always right, aren't I?"

"I'm going to do it! I'm going to call MJ, and I'm going to be a big boy and talk to her!"

"That's my boy!" Tony exclaimed patting him on the shoulder. It really brought so much pride and joy seeing this kid…his protégé shine with his newfound confidence, and the fact that he helped to boost this confidence made him feel more confident about taking Peter under his wing as well.

Peter took a deep breath and briefly jumped up and down in his seat, despite his seatbelt. "Okay, wish me luck! I'm going to do it!" he said excitedly.

"You're Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, kid!" Tony replied feeling the boy's excitement. "You're like me, you don't need luck."

Peter flashed one last smile at Tony before turning back to his phone. He lifted his finger and went to press the button…only to stop dead in his tracks.

"Kid, you're embarrassing me in front of Happy here," Tony said in a deadpanned expression as Peter sighed with exasperation and dropped his hand on his lap.

"And I'm enjoying every minute of it," Happy interjected, "so keep it up, Peter."

Tony rolled his eyes before turning back to Peter.

"Maybe, I should just forget it and try again tomorrow," Peter finally said after a moment of silence as he rested his head against the window.

"Well, you could do that," Tony replied, "but then what would happen if you get the same crippling nerves you're getting now? Are you going to freeze up again and keep putting it off?"

Peter thought for a moment and realized that Tony was once again right. If he did put off calling MJ till tomorrow, what if he froze again and decided to try again another time? He could miss out on talking to her all because he was too nervous to pick up a phone and never tried to suck it up. What if she were to ask what happened and why he didn't call her? What was he going to say? That he was too chicken to pick up a phone to call her? Yeah, that would make for a great impression on him. Peter Parker, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, was afraid of calling a girl that he liked in his school. That would put a ding in his reputation at school for sure, not that he had one anyway at school, but still!

"You...might be right, Mr. Stark," he finally said after a few moments of silence, "again."

"That really seems to be the winning phrase here," Tony interjected. To the billionaire, this was definitely one of those times where he wished the other Avengers were here to witness this kid claiming Tony Stark to be right. The fact that the kid already looked up to him made it even better.

Peter took a deep breath and turned back to his phone. MJ's number was still displayed on the screen as his heart pounded yet again. "I'm going to do it," he said. "For real this time."

"Atta boy, kid," Tony said smiling and patting him on the shoulder. "Knock 'em dead, well, not literally, of course."

Peter chuckled allowing himself to share in the confidence Tony had in him. They didn't know each other for long, but Peter always relished in the moments where Tony told him how proud he was of him or showed the absolute confidence he had in his potential to be a superhero and in his normal life, especially for situations like this.

"Okay, here we go," he finally said taking a deep breath. He rolled his shoulders as if he was preparing for a marathon or the battle of a lifetime trying to get the adrenaline flowing again. Finally, he moved his finger to the screen and…stopped yet again just above the screen.

"Really?" Tony asked with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you, Mr. Stark," Peter replied laughing before finally…tapping the number and bringing the phone to his ear. The phone rang once…twice…three times…four times…five times…and then…

"_Hey, this is MJ. Can't pick up right now, but leave a message…"_

_BEEP!_

"Hey, MJ," Peter began feeling relief wash over his entire body as he relaxed, "it's…uhh…Peter…Peter Parker. Uhh…call me back! Bye!"

He quickly ended the call and threw his head back on the headrest. "Oh thank God!" he exclaimed. "It went to voicemail!"

"And…remind me why that's good…" Tony asked raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Because now, she has to call me back," Peter replied with a smile on his face. "I called and left a message, so now the ball is in her court!" He breathed another sigh and felt the nerves leave his body allowing him to finally relax. It was the greatest feeling in the world as the weight was lifted. Now, MJ needed to call him back! This was perfect! He sighed yet again. "Saved by the voicemail!"

Tony stared at the rookie superhero before chuckling and shaking his head. "You never cease to amaze me, kid."

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**Author's Note: **And that's a wrap on my first IronDad fanfic! I really hope people liked it! Like I said, it's my first one! I'm also planning to write a oneshot series for IronDad and SpiderSon at one point. I love this relationship so much, and I could just see them bonding and really getting to know each other after the events of Homecoming. I have a few other ideas, so hopefully you all will see them at some point. Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks, guys!


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